BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a restless moment for a world worried about war, trade and artificial intelligence.
“We're the two superpowers,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday. “We're the strongest nation on Earth in terms of military. China’s considered second.”
While Trump likes to project a sense of strength, the visit occurs at a delicate moment for his presidency as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The Republican president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American soybeans, beef and aircraft, saying he'll be talking with Xi about trade "more than anything else."
The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump's tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.
But Trump visits Beijing when Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike to levels that could sabotage global economic growth. The U.S. president declared that Xi didn't need to assist in resolving the conflict, even though Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing last week.
“We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control," Trump told reporters Tuesday.
Taiwan high on the agenda
The status of Taiwan also appears to be a major topic as China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island that the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.
Trump told reporters Monday that he would be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan that the U.S. administration authorized in December but has not yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.
But the U.S. leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that's raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.
At the same time, Taiwan — as the world's leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.
The Chinese Communist Party's news outlet, People's Daily, published a strongly worded editorial on Tuesday underscoring that Taiwan is “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations” and is “the biggest point of risk” between the two nations.
Trump says relationship with Xi is on solid footing
Trump was already portraying the trip as a success before he left White House grounds. He openly mused about Xi's planned reciprocal visit to the U.S., lamenting that the ballroom under construction would not be completed in time to properly fete the Chinese leader.
“We’re going to have a great relationship for many, many decades to come,” Trump said of the U.S. and China. “As you know, President Xi will be coming here toward the end of the year. So that would be exciting. I only wish we had the ballroom finished.”
Trump said he had spoken with the Chinese leader and the meeting would be “positive" as he embarked on Air Force One with a coterie of aides, family members and business world titans, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk.
Trump, as he flew to Beijing, posted on social media that his "first request" to Xi during the visit will be to ask the Chinese leader to bolster the presence of U.S. firms in China.
“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” wrote Trump, who is expected to receive a formal ceremonial greeting when he arrives in the Chinese capital on Wednesday evening.
Despite Trump’s outward confidence, China appears to be entering the meeting from “a much stronger place," said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser on Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
China would like to reduce tech restrictions on accessing computer chips and find ways to reduce tariffs, among other goals.
“But even if they don’t get much on any of those things, as long as there’s not a blow-up in the meeting and President Trump doesn’t go away and look to re-escalate, China basically comes out stronger,” Kennedy said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Wednesday to discuss economic and trade issues at Incheon International Airport, just west of the South Korean capital Seoul, according to the Chinese state run Xinhua News Agency.
Trump wants 3-way nuclear arms deal
Trump also intends to raise the idea of the U.S., China and Russia signing a pact that would set limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the trip. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing's arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the U.S. and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.
The last nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century. As the treaty was set to expire, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for "a new, improved, and modernized" deal that includes China.
The Pentagon estimates China has more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and will have over 1,000 by 2030.
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Boak reported from Washington. Huizhong Wu in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed reporting.